THE     CENTENNIAL     OF    ILLINOIS 
STATEHOOD 

COMMEMORATED  BY  THE 
CHICAGO  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY,  ORCHESTRA 
HALL,  APRIL  NINETEENTH 
MDCCCCXVIII 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


1818-1918 


THE    CENTENNIAL    OF    ILLINOIS    STATEHOOD 

COMMEMORATED  BY  THE 
CHICAGO  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY,  ORCHESTRA 
HALL,  APRIL  NINETEENTH 
MDCCCCXV1II 

HISTORIA    REDIVIVA  CHICAGO    SALUTATRIX 

ADDRESS:      ILLINOIS    IN    HISTORY 
BY  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  CHARLES  P.  ANDERSON.  D.  D. 


CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE 


MR.  CHARLES  B.  PIKE,  CHAIRMAN 
MRS.  JOHN  A.  CARPENTER 
MRS.  KELLOGG  FAIRBANK 
MR.  ROBERT  C.  FERGUS 
MRS.  JAMES  L.  HOUGHTELING 
MISS  CAROLINE  M.  MclLVAlNE 


MRS.  ROBT.  HALL  McCORMICK,  JR. 

MR.  JULIAN  S.  MASON 

MR.  RALPH  C.  OTIS 

MRS.  BRONSON  PECK 

MR.  JOHN  C.  SHAFFER 

MRS.  FREDERICK  T.  WEST 


EX-OFFICIIS 

MR.  CLARENCE  A.  BURLEY,  PRESIDENT.  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
DR.   OTTO  L.    SCHMIDT.  VICE-PRESIDENT  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
ILLINOIS  CENTENNIAL  COMMISSION 


BOX  HOLDERS 


HON.  FRANK  O.  LOWDEN 

RT.  REV.  CHARLES  P.  ANDERSON 

MR.  SAMUEL  INSULL 

MR.  CLARENCE  A.  BURLEY 

MR.  CHARLES  B.  PIKE 

DR.  O.  L.  SCHMIDT 

HON.  ROBERT  H.  McCORMICK 

MR.  MARTIN  A.  RYERSON 

MR.  CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON 

MRS.  T.  B.  BLACKSTONE 

MR.  WILLIAM  A.  FULLER 

MR.  OTTO  C.  BUTZ 

MR.  WILLIAM  J.  CHALMERS 


MRS.  GEORGE  M.  PULLMAN 
MR.  ORSON  SMITH 
MRS.  H.  M.  WILLMARTH 
MR. CHAUNCEY  KEEP 
MRS.  ELISHA  P.  WHITEHEAD 
MR.  JULIAN  S.  MASON 
MRS.  BRONSON  PECK 
MRS.  FREDERICK  T.  WEST 
MR.  CYRUS  H.  MCCORMICK 
MISS  KATHERINE  D.ARNOLD 
MR.  VICTOR  F.  LAWSON 
MRS.  JAMES  L.  HOUGHTELING 
DR,  GEORGE  SNOW  ISHAM 


M  * 

{yf  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  MEET- 
ING,  MR.  CLARENCE   A.  BURLEY,   PRESIDENT 

OF  THE  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  BY 
rj  MR.  CHARLES  B.  PIKE,  CHAIRMAN  OF 

THE  CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE  OF 
THE  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY 
. 

MR.  PIKE:  Members  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  War  Governor  Lowden,  and  Distinguished 
Guests :  On  behalf  of  the  Centennial  Committee  of  the 
Society,  I  desire  to  thank  all  of  those  who  have  assisted 
the  Committee  in  the  arrangements  for  this  celebration. 
The  Chicago  Historical  Society,  during  the  sixty- 
two  years  of  its  existence,  has  held  many  meetings,  but 
it  has  never  held  one  at  such  a  momentous  time  in  the 
world's  history.  Recognizing  this  fact,  and  in  order  to 
visualize  and  bring  vividly  to  mind  the  wondrous  story 
of  our  State  during  the  past  one  hundred  years,  the 
Society  for  the  first  time  has  permitted  the  removal  of 
some  of  the  precious  memorials  of  the  early  days  from 
the  building  of  the  Society  to  this  hall,  so  that  you  are 
in  the  very  presence  of  the  objects  which  were  loved  and 
handled  by  the  pioneers  and  by  the  brave  soldiers  of 
this  State ;  and  you  are  to  sing,  and  you  are  to  listen  to, 
the  old  music  which  gladdened  their  hearts. 

I  now  have  the  honor  of  introducing  to  you  a  man 
whose  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  this  City, 
having  come  to  Chicago  in  1837,  and  he,  inheriting  the 
past  traditions  of  this  City  and  of  this  State,  will  speak 
to  you  concerning  the  great  events  of  the  history  of  this 
City. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen — Clarence  A.  Burley,  the 
President  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society. 

3 
f^ 


50914 


Address  of  Welcome 

MR.  BURLEY:  Guests,  Friends,  Fellow  Members  of 
the  Society:  In  behalf  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  I  welcome  you  all. 

I  cannot  permit  myself  to  be  mentioned  as  a  son  of 
one  of  the  earliest  citizens  of  Chicago,  without  calling 
to  your  attention  that  there  are  others  more  worthy  of 
that  appellation.  There  are  many  here,  and  we  have 
tried  to  have  represented  here  the  old  families. 

There  are  descendants  of  the  Ryerson  family,  the 
Ogden  family,  the  Goodrich  family,  the  Mason  family. 
I  see  a  descendant  of  the  Stephen  F.  Gale,  who  came 
here  in  1831.  I  cannot  name  them  all  or  I  should  take 
up  too  much  time.  I  must  not  be  classed  with  the  really 
old  families — my  father  did  not  come  here  until  1837. 

We  have  here,  also,  or  we  were  to  have  had,  the 
daughter  of  Shadrach  Bond,  the  first  Governor  of 
Illinois,  in  1818 — and  that  is  some  time  back.  We  have 
also  with  us  Mrs.  Tyler,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  William 
H.  Brown,  who  was  the  first  president  of  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society. 

One  hundred  years  ago,  in  1818,  Illinois  was  ad- 
mitted as  a  state.  It  was  not  done  all  at  once.  There 
was  first  an  Enabling  Act.  That  was  on  the  i8th  day 
of  April;  and  they  have  been  celebrating  that  yester- 
day, and  the  day  before,  at  Springfield. 

Then  there  were  other  Acts ;  and  finally  the  State  was 
admitted  in  December  of  the  year  1818. 

The  Centennial  Commission,  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, thought  it  fitting,  and  it  does  seem  proper,  to 
have  various  ceremonies  throughout  the  State,  celebra- 
tions of  this  great  event  at  different  times  through  this 
year. 

4 


The  Historical  Society  has  thought  it  fitting,  and  it 
seems  eminently  proper,  that  it  should  celebrate  this 
event,  great  in  our  history.  The  Chicago  Historical 
Society  is  the  repository  of  the  records  of  courageous 
acts  and  brave  deeds  done  here  and  hereabouts,  in  the 
Illinois  country  and  elsewhere.  It  is  not  only  a  reposi- 
tory of  the  records.  We  have  gathered  together  a  num- 
ber of  objects  to  vivify  its  history,  to  make  clear  to  the 
people  what  our  forefathers,  the  early  settlers,  did,  how 
they  lived,  what  they  suffered,  what  inconveniences 
there  were,  and  how  they  overcame  them.  For  this 
purpose  we  have  collected  these  things,  and  we  are  still 
collecting  various  objects,  and  they  are  in  our  museum. 
Many  of  them  are  on  view  here  tonight.  This  museum, 
and  our  library,  are  at  all  times  open  to  the  public. 

Much  has  been  said  lately  and  written  about  the 
necessity  of  educating  our  citizens  in  their  duties  as 
citizens, — in  patriotism.  The  Chicago  Historical 
Society  has  done  something  in  that  way.  For  some 
years  it  has  been  giving  illustrated  lectures  to  the  school 
children  of  Chicago,  lectures  upon  the  history  of  this 
State,  and  the  Northwest,  giving  them  an  idea  that  there 
are  things  here  that  are  worthy  of  emulation, — teaching 
these  foreigners,  many  of  whom  know  nothing  but  their 
own  national  traditions,  that  there  is  history  in  this 
country,  that  there  were  men  whose  deeds  are  worthy 
of  emulation,  and  that  there  were  men  who  have  done 
things  to  bring  about  the  liberty  which  they  enjoy. 

There  is  much  in  the  history  of  the  past  of  this  State 
that  incites  to  patriotism.  It  is  full  of  deeds  of  heroism, 
of  self  sacrifice,  and  of  devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

The  written  history  goes  farther  back  than  most 
people  think,  and  farther  back,  beyond  that,  are  various 
tales  and  stories;  but  the  authentic  written  history  be- 
gins in  1673,  with  Pere  Marquette,  who  was  here  with 


his  comrade  Joliet.  He  spent  the  winter  here,  on  our 
Chicago  River,  in  1674,  and  he  called  the  river  the 
"Chicagou."  That  name  has  been  said  to  be  variously 
derived.  It  has  been  thought  to  have  come  from  the 
name  of  the  wild  onion,  which  grew  here  in  profusion, 
on  the  banks  of  our  river.  But  there  is  another  deriva- 
tion. 

Marquette  came  here,  with  some  Pottawatomie 
Indians,  and  that  tribe  had  an  expression  or  term, 
"Chicagou,"  which  meant  various  things.  Among 
other  things,  it  meant  "no  use,"  or  "no  use  to  go 
farther."  For  instance,  in  1832  or  1833,  two  boys 
started  out  with  baskets  to  gather  wild  plums.  One  of 
those  boys  was  afterwards  Judge  of  the  United  States 
District  Court  here,  the  Honorable  Henry  W.  Blodgett. 
They  met  an  Indian.  He  asked  them  where  they  were 
going.  They  told  him.  He  said,  "Chicagou," — no 
use  to  go  any  farther.  And  it  was  not, — the  plums 
were  all  picked. 

This  was  the  last  portage  on  this  side  of  the  lake,  to 
get  to  the  Mississippi  River.  It  was  "Chicagou," — no 
use  to  go  any  further.  That  may  be  the  derivation  of 
the  name  of  our  City. 

Our  written  history,  then,  begins  with  Marquette.  It 
begins  only  sixty  years  after  the  first  settlement  in 
Virginia  and  fifty  years  after  the  founding  of  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  of  New  Amsterdam, — and  earlier  than 
Pennsylvania.  So  you  see  that  even  here  we  date  pretty 
well  back. 

After  Marquette  came  the  great  Frenchmen,  La  Salle 
and  Tonty,  and  many  other  pioneers  and  settlers,  so  that 
by  1700  there  was  a  settlement,  a  large  settlement  or 
town,  at  Cahokia,  and  also  at  Kaskaskia.  There  were 
numerous  French  settlers  and  explorers,  though  not 
about  here;  they  were  all  farther  south  and  v/est. 

6 


When  Quebec  was  captured  by  Wolfe,  in  1759,  the 
settlers  in  this  part  of  the  world  passed  under  the 
British  rule.  The  French  settlers  were  quiet  under  it; 
but  then  began,  before  our  revolution,  right  here  in 
Illinois,  a  struggle  for  liberty.  The  French  settlers 
applied  to  the  British  Crown  for  a  charter,  a  liberal 
charter,  such  as  the  State  of  Connecticut  had,  which, 
as  you  remember,  the  King  tried  to  annul,  and  which 
was  hidden  away  in  an  old  oak  tree,  to  be  produced  in 
better  times.  Such  a  charter  was  denied  them.  They 
refused  the  one  that  they  were  tendered,  and  they  con- 
tinued to  strive  for  a  free  charter,  until  the  time  of 
the  Revolution. 

We  have  chosen,  for  this  celebration,  a  day  that  is 
noteworthy.  On  April  19,  1775,  occurred  the  Battle 
of  Lexington,  when  was  fired  the  first  shot  in  our 
Revolution,  in  our  struggle  for  independence, — that 
shot  which  has  echoed  around  the  world  ever  since. 

Illinois  had  its  share  in  that  Revolution.  In  1778 
George  Rogers  Clark,  a  stalwart  young  Virginia 
frontiersman,  and  a  man  of  wide  views  and  great  in- 
terests, organized  an  expedition,  to  take  the  Northwest 
from  the  British.  He  acted  under  the  authority  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Governor  of  Virginia.  With  a  party 
of  about  130  men,  hardy  frontiersmen  like  himself, 
he  marched  across  the  intervening  country,  by  rapid, 
difficult,  hazardous  marches,  surprised  these  settle- 
ments, and  captured  them.  There  was  little  blood- 
shed. He  just  took  the  settlements,  and  the  people 
welcomed  him;  the  French  settlers  not  only  welcomed 
him,  but  they  helped  him,  with  men,  money  and 
supplies,  without  which  he  could  not  have  maintained 
his  expedition. 

George  Rogers  Clark,  and  those  men  who  helped 
him,  and  those  men  who  came  with  him,  kept  this  part 


of  the  world  for  the  United  States  of  America.  They 
had  the  reward  of  their  virtue, — and  that  is  about  all. 
Clark  died  in  poverty.  His  name  is  not  very  well 
known.  Some  of  our  citizens  remember  that  there  is 
a  street  called  Clark  street,  but  why  they  do  not  know. 
It  was  named  after  George  Rogers  Clark. 

Who  knows  anything  of  Francois  Vigo?  I  suppose 
hardly  anyone.  Yet  he  gave  his  fortune,  and  it  was  a 
large  one  for  those  times,  to  help  Clark.  He  ruined 
himself,  and  died  in  poverty,  and  is  forgotten. 

Who  has  ever  heard  of  the  French  priest,  Pierre 
Gibault,  whose  eloquence,  enthusiasm,  and  great  per- 
sonal ability  helped  Clark  to  maintain  this  great  North- 
west? And  he  died  in  poverty.  All  honor  to  these  men 
who  gave  their  lives,  virtually,  and  all  their  fortunes, 
for  the  cause  of  liberty! 

Illinois,  though  not  then  a  state,  thus  had  her  part  in 
the  great  Revolution — and  that  was  a  struggle  against 
king  power.  We  are  undergoing  something  of  the 
same  kind  now.  We  were  not  fighting  the  English 
people.  The  best  minds  in  England,  Burke,  Fox,  and 
others,  were  with  us;  but  we  were  fighting  against 
kings,  then.  (Applause.) 

Our  success  lighted  a  torch  which  has  not  since  gone 
out, — the  torch  of  liberty,  which  has  so  enlightened  the 
world  that  Liberty  is  extending,  and  has  extended. 
France  has  become  free.  England  is  no  longer  king 
controlled,  but  her  Parliament  controls  the  King.  Not 
since  our  Revolution  has  England  lost  a  colony  by  rea- 
son of  any  oppressive  legislation.  Today  Canada, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  with  govern- 
ments as  free  as  ours,  are  showing  that  free  men,  under 
free  government,  are  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives 
that  others  may  be  free.  (Applause.) 

Since  those  early  days,  Illinois  has  never  failed  in 


her  duty,  in  every  struggle  for  freedom.  We  have 
here,  as  relics,  several  flags  which  went  through  the 
Civil  War,  from  Illinois.  One  of  them  went  through 
with  Sherman,  in  his  March  to  the  Sea.  This  large 
flag  was  a  flag  under  which  were  recruited  many  of 
the  troops.  There  is  another  flag,  that  old  white  one, 
in  the  center  of  the  group,  that  was  carried  all  through 
the  war,  and  Captain  Lewis,  who  carried  it,  is  here 
tonight.  (Applause.) 

In  that  war  for  the  freedom  of  the  slaves,  Illinois 
did  her  full  duty.  She  did  more  than  her  duty. 

It  is  worth  noting  here  that  the  event  we  are  cele- 
brating came  when  there  were  ten  southern  states  and 
ten  northern  states.  Illinois  was  the  twenty-first  state, 
and  Illinois  threw  the  power  of  the  states  to  the  North, 
and  against  slavery.  It  is  well  depicted  in  our  Centen- 
nial Banner  which  you  can  see  up  yonder,  though 
perhaps  the  people  in  the  gallery  cannot, — showing 
our  star  in  between  the  others,  and  that  is  due  to 
the  poetic  insight  of  the  designer,  Mr.  Wallace  Rice. 

In  that  great  struggle,  Illinois  contributed,  in  men, 
over  twenty  per  cent  of  the  population  she  had  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war.  That  is  more,  by  six  per  cent, 
than  her  sister  state,  Indiana,  and  is  more  by  eight  per 
cent  than  any  of  the  states,  even  Massachusetts. 

Illinois  not  only  contributed  these  men,  but  she  con- 
tributed Grant,  the  great  leader,  and  the  immortal 
Lincoln.  (Applause.)  Illinois  contributed  her  full 
measure  of  men  in  the  war  to  free  Cuba,  and  con- 
tributed to  the  navy  more  than  any  other  state. 
Thirteen  hundred  men  went  from  Illinois  into  the  navy; 
they  went  into  the  battle  ships  and  the  cruisers  and 
the  torpedo  boats,  and  elsewhere,  and  thirteen  hundred 
men  came  back;  there  was  not  one  of  them  sick,  and 
not  one  of  them  hurt.  (Applause.) 


The  Chicago  Historical  Society  is  preserving  the 
records  of  the  present  conflict.  So  far  as  it  can  get  at 
the  facts,  it  is  keeping  a  record  of  all  those  who  go  from 
here  into  the  war.  Many  of  you  can  help,  by  sending 
to  the  Society  the  names  of  those  in  your  families  who 
have  gone  in,  and  whom  you  wish  to  be  known.  The 
Society  is  keeping  these  records,  not  only  for  posterity, 
but  for  now, — that  we  may  be  able  to  show  that  Illinois 
lives  up  to  its  great  past. 

We  are  now  in  a  great  struggle  for  freedom.  The 
greatest  war  in  the  world's  history.  We  are  righting 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  England  and  France,  and 
we  are  fighting  for  liberty.  Again  we  of  Illinois  are 
called  upon  to  do  our  utmost.  Many  thousands  of  our 
young  men  have  gone,  to  give  their  lives  to  this  cause. 
We  at  home  must  do  our  part.  The  Government  must 
have  money,  more  money,  and  more  money.  We  can 
all  buy  bonds,  to  some  extent,  at  least.  Let  us  do  our 
utmost,  to  be  worthy  of  the  great  past  of  Illinois. 

Let  us  remember  that  in  the  war  for  our  freedom 
and  independence  our  forefathers  dedicated  their  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor.  Let  us  dedicate 
ourselves,  and  let  us  so  act  now,  as  in  the  past,  that  in 
the  forefront  of  all  that  helps  toward  freedom,  toward 
a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  stands  Illinois.  (Applause.) 

Let  us  all  rise  and  sing  "Illinois." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  now  going  to  introduce  to 
you  a  speaker  who  will  tell  us  a  little  something  of 
what  we  at  home  can  do.  I  will  ask  Mr.  Hamill  to 
say  a  few  words  to  us. 


Address  By  Mr.   Charles  H.  Hamitt 

On  the  plains  of  Flanders  and  the  fields  of  Picardy 
is  raging  the  bloodiest  and  perhaps  the  most  fateful 
battle  of  all  history.  Valiant  sons  of  France  and  brave 
men  of  England  are  pouring  out  their  blood  and  giving 
up  their  lives  in  the  Cause  of  Freedom,  the  while  we 
are  celebrating  the  Centennary  of  our  State's  birth. 
While  we  rejoice  in  the  history  of  a  hundred  years  of 
almost  unbroken  peace,  blessed  by  the  bounty  of  nature 
and  made  glorious  by  the  institutions  of  Liberty,  others 
are  enduring  the  agony  of  battle  and  giving  their  lives 
that  we  may  continue  in  our  traditional  prosperity  and 
safety.  Until  now  our  part  in  the  horrible  struggle 
has  been  almost  negligible,  but  at  any  moment  we  may 
hear  the  cry  "Extra!"  and,  with  quickened  pulse  and 
anxious  eye,  read  that  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  our  own  boys  are  in  the  fray. 

A  few  days  ago,  I  saw  a  letter  from  a  young  Amer- 
ican soldier  to  his  mother,  which  tells  something  of 
the  spirit  with  which  those  soldiers  of  ours  will  fight 
when  their  time  comes.  In  it  he  said : 

"I  have  had  an  awakening  since  I  came  over  here.  If  I  were 
offered  the  best  position  in  the  United  States,  at  a  salary  of  $20,000 
a  year,  and  were  free  to  leave,  I  would  not  come.  I  hate  fighting 
and  I  hate  war,  more  than  ever  since  I  have  seen  here  what  they 
are,  but  this  is  the  eternal  fight  between  Right  and  Wrong  and  I 
will  not  leave  until  it  is  settled  right,  and  then  I  shall  be  glad  to 
come  back  home." 

One  reading  the  letter,  however  persuaded  one  may 
be  that  war  in  itself  is  stupid,  cruel  and  brutal  and 
without  redeeming  feature,  must  yet  recognize  that, 
like  every  other  great  evil,  it  inspires  countervailing 
virtues.  By  it  the  young  men  of  our  country  have  been 
so  filled  with  a  holy  passion  for  righteousness  that  will- 
ingly, yea,  gladly  they  lay  down  their  lives  in  its  cause; 
by  it  the  young  wife  has  been  stirred  to  hold  a  stout 
heart  as  she  says  good-bye  to  her  soldier  husband,  and 
by  it  the  mother  has  been  emboldened  to  wear  a  brave 


smile  as  she  bids  "God  Speed"  to  her  boy.  But  these 
virtues,  though  they  command  our  admiration  and 
wonder,  are  not  adequate  compensation  for  the  horrors 
of  war.  Unless  old  men  and  children,  as  well  as  young 
men,  unless  in  addition  to  wives  and  mothers,  childless 
and  husbandless  women,  who  are  not  called  upon  to 
make  the  sacrifice  of  life  or  the  even  dearer  sacrifice  of 
those  whom  they  cherish  more  than  life — unless  these, 
too,  are  stirred  to  their  depths  and  impelled  to  do  their 
all  for  their  country  and  the  Cause  of  Civilization,  the 
King  of  Evil  has  the  better  of  the  argument.  May  that 
shame  never  fall  upon  us! 

Our  country  now  calls  upon  us  to  do  our  share.  It 
asks  us  to  buy  bonds.  They  are  good  investments,  but 
it  makes  no  difference  whether  they  are  or  not.  (Ap- 
plause.) Through  them  or  through  taxation,  one  or 
the  other,  our  country  must  and  will  raise  the  necessary 
funds  to  equip  and  maintain  the  necessary  army,  once 
and  for  all  to  put  an  end  to  the  age-long  threat  of  irre- 
sponsible force.  We  are  summoned,  not  alone  by  the 
commanding  shout  of  authority,  but  by  the  even  more 
compelling  whisper  of  conscience.  Let  us  prove  then 
that  we,  too,  can  feel  a  noble  passion  and  express  it  in 
something  more  than  words.  As  we  rejoice,  then,  on 
this  evening  of  celebration,  may  it  be  the  rejoicing  of 
a  spirit  at  one  with  itself  because  it  has  resolved  that, 
so  far  as  in  it  lies,  peace  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth, 
though  war  to  the  death  be  the  only  means  to  that  happy 
end.  (Applause.) 

MR.  HERBERT  GOULD:  Let  us  all  stand,  and  sing 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  You  cannot  help  but 
sing  it  now.  (Applause.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  now  take  great  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  the  Right  Reverend  Charles  P. 
Anderson,  who  will  address  us  upon  "Illinois  in 
History."  (Applause.)  12 


ADDRESS: 

Illinois  In  History 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  CHARLES  P.  ANDERSON,  D.D. 

President  Burley,  Your  Excellency,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen :  The  theme  of  the  evening  encompasses  a 
definite  place  and  purpose  and  period  of  time.  The 
place  is  Illinois.  The  purpose  is  to  point  out  some  of 
the  contributions  which  Illinois  has  made  to  the 
permanent  record  of  human  events.  The  time  is  from 
1818,  when  Illinois  became  a  State  of  the  Union. 

This  latter  act  was  accomplished  through  two  rather 
heroic  processes — first,  by  the  special  Enabling  Act  of 
Congress,  skilfully  engineered  by  Nathaniel  Pope, 
under  which  a  population  of  forty  thousand  was  au- 
thorized to  organize  as  a  state;  and,  second,  by  a  very 
generous  census,  which  liberally  estimated  that  there 
must  have  been  forty  thousand  people  in  the  State  at 
that  time.  (Laughter.) 

Those  very  precise  historians  who  attached  more 
importance  to  dull  facts  than  to  brilliant  ambitions, 
maintain  that  there  were  only  34,620  people  in  the  State 
at  that  time ;  but  that  owing  to  the  migratory  character 
of  the  immigrants  who  were  seeking  new  homes,  a  con- 
siderable number  was  counted  immediately  upon  arrival 
in  Illinois;  also,  inadvertently,  en  route  to  their  future 
place  of  residence;  and  also,  quite  inadvertently,  on 
arrival  at  their  destination.  At  any  rate,  Illinois  be- 
came a  state  in  1818,  with  the  smallest  population  of 
any  state  in  the  Union. 

Although  the  theme  confines  one  within  well  defined 
limits,  those  limits  are  certainly  not  so  narrow  as  to 
thwart  any  reasonable  ambition  on  the  part  of  the 
speaker,  nor  to  cramp  him  on  account  of  insufficient 
material.  Indeed,  the  time  is  so  long  and  the  space  is 

»3 


so  big  and  the  material  is  so  bountiful,  that  the  very 
best  one  can  hope  to  do,  is  to  rise  to  a  very  great  height, 
in  an  imaginary  aeroplane,  and  take  a  mental  photo- 
graph, in  which,  unhappily,  only  very  conspicuous  ob- 
jects will  appear. 

Let  me  begin  by  asking  two  very  pertinent  questions. 
What  makes  a  state?  What  makes  history?  Mere 
acreage  of  land  and  mere  aggregations  of  people  do 
not  make  a  state,  although  they  are  necessary  to  it. 
History  is  not  the  same  as  geography  or  ethnology, 
although  these  are  contributory  factors. 

Take  this  section  of  the  earth  which  we  call  Illinois— 
this  great  domain  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  long  and 
two  hundred  and  eighteen  miles  wide,  lying  at  the  foot 
of  Lake  Michigan.  Give  it  an  altitude  of  four  hun- 
dred to  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Let  it  consist  of  undulating  stretches  of  land  and  rich 
rolling  prairie.  Intersect  it  with  running  streams  and 
navigable  rivers,  winding  their  ways  through  green 
fields  and  wooded  hills  to  the  great  "Father  of  Waters." 
Endow  its  soil  with  the  fertile  capacity  of  producing 
food  for  millions. 

Store  its  sub-soil  with  great  quantities  of  coal  and 
an  abundance  of  other  mineral  wealth.  Beautify  its 
landscape  with  rugged  bluffs  along  the  Mississippi 
River,  with  rare  bits  of  picturesqueness  on  the  Rock 
River,  with  precipitous  rocks  on  the  Illinois,  and  deep 
ravines  on  the  Vermilion.  Take  all  these  natural  en- 
dowments, and  they  do  not  create  a  state,  nor  do  they 
write  a  line  of  history.  All  these  original  riches  were 
here,  in  their  primitive  innocence,  unknown  and  undis- 
covered, centuries  ago,  when  old  civilizations  were 
already  beginning  to  die  of  stale  customs  and  of  ancient 
sins.  Clearly  then,  territory  alone  can  only  furnish  the 


background  of  the  picture;  and  be  it  ever  so  bounteous, 
has  no  human  story  to  tell. 

Come  down,  therefore,  several  centuries  nearer  to 
history.  People  this  territory  with  Indians — with 
Algonquins,  and  their  numerous  derivative  family 
groups, — with  Shawnees  and  Winnebagos  and  Miamis 
and  Pottawatomies  and  Kaskaskias  and  Illini.  Let 
them  roam  over  the  prairies  and  paddle  their  canoes 
noiselessly  around  the  bends  of  the  rivers  and  in  the 
inlets  of  the  lakes.  Let  them  kill  the  wild  game  with 
their  bows  and  arrows.  Let  them  build  their  wigwams 
and  their  tepee  cities.  Let  them  circle  around  their 
tents  in  the  weird  worship  of  the  Great  Spirit,  or  in  the 
weirder  war  dances. 

Let  them  fight  their  tribal  battles.  Let  the  story  of 
the  Indian  occupation  of  Illinois  be  fully  told,  and, 
while  it  contains  much  of  thrilling  human  interest,  we 
have  not  yet  arrived  at  the  idea  of  a  state.  No  histor- 
ical monuments  are  being  erected.  No  permanent 
records  are  being  written. 

One  dislikes  to  dismiss  the  story  of  the  long  occupa- 
tion of  this  part  of  the  world  by  the  Indian  tribes  in 
this  summary  fashion,  but  it  must  be  done.  The  Red 
Man  has  left  to  us  certain  inheritances.  He  has  en- 
riched our  mental  possessions  with  a  certain  retrospec- 
tive romance,  with  a  distant  enchantment,  with  a 
reminiscent  pathos,  with  tender  recollections  of  savage 
joys  and  wild  tragedies,  with  memories  of  bitter  wrongs 
done  and  suffered,  memories  of  massacres  of  the 
innocent  and  the  guilty. 

The  Red  Man  has  left  us  some  imperishable  names, 
—a  Black  Partridge,  a  Black  Hawk.  It  was  of  Black 
Hawk  that  Victor  Hugo  said,  with  what  seems  like 
poetic  hyperbole,  that  he  was  as  much  greater  than 
Alexander,  and  Scipio,  and  Napoleon  and  such  bar- 
is 


barians,  as  the  moon  in  its  zenith  is  above  the  earth. 

The  Red  Man  has  left  us  an  inheritance  of  a  soft 
and  mellow  nomenclature,  by  which  we  designate  many 
of  our  rivers  and  cities,  a  nomenclature  that  is  full  of 
the  poetry  of  close  contact  with  Mother  Nature.  Truth, 
however,  compels  one  to  say  that  his  super-abundant 
use  of  the  sound  of  the  letter  "K"  has  threatened  sub- 
sequent generations  with  cleft  palates  in  the  bequest  that 
he  has  left  us  of  Kankakees,  Kickapoos,  Kahokias  and 
Kaskaskias  in  our  own  State,  and  Kokimos,  Keokuks, 
Kalamazoos  and  Oshkoshes  near  by. 

Yes,  let  the  story  of  the  Indian  be  told,  with  all  that 
is  in  it  of  human  interest,  and  we  have  not  yet  arrived 
at  the  idea  of  a  state,  nor  at  those  social  conditions 
which  produce  an  indelible  history. 

Come  down  a  step  further.  People  this  same  terri- 
tory with  white  men.  Cut  it  up  into  rectangles.  Call 
each  rectangle  a  county.  Put  several  thousand  white 
men  into  each  county.  Assemble  them  into  compact 
groups  called  cities.  Dig  sewers,  build  roads,  erect 
houses,  shops,  factories,  banks,  theaters  and  churches. 
And,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  though  you  are  ac- 
cumulating the  material  out  of  which  civilization  is 
made,  though  the  state  is  beginning  to  take  on  em- 
bryonic form  and  shape,  nevertheless  all  you  have  done 
so  far  is  to  substitute  white  men  for  red  men.  All  that 
you  have  so  far  is  an  aggregation  of  people,  a  great 
mass  of  individuals,  heterogeneous  and  detached,  with- 
out that  homogeneity  and  corporisty  which  are  the 
soul  and  the  body  of  the  state. 

What  then  makes  a  state?  Ladies  and  gentlemen, 
it  is  the  state  consciousness  that  makes  the  state,  the 
state  consciousness  finding  organic  expression.  It  is 
the  social  consciousness,  the  corporate  consciousness, 
the  consciousness  of  a  common  need,  a  common  life 

16 


and  a  common  purpose.    As  soon  as  that  arrives,  the 
state  is  born.    It  does  not  matter  much  about  the  date. 

History,  after  all,  has  very  little  to  do  with  dates. 
History  has  to  do  with  sequences,  with  human  relation- 
ships, with  cause  and  effect,  with  actions  and  con- 
sequences. It  is  an  inconsequential  thing  that  the 
Magna  Charta  was  written  in  1215.  The  thing  of  con- 
sequence was  that  it  was  written  at  all.  It  represented 
the  birth  of  the  corporate  consciousness  of  liberty — a 
consciousness  which  found  social  and  political  ex- 
pression. (Applause.)  That  birth  was  centuries  in 
being  accomplished.  A  world  groaned  and  travailed 
in  pain  for  ages  before  that  child  was  brought  to  the 
birth.  But,  once  born  it  never  dies.  (Applause.) 

It  is  an  inconsequential  thing  that  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  made  at  a  certain  date.  The  thing 
that  is  of  consequence  is  that  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
when  the  right  place  and  purpose  came  together,  the 
incalculable  and  irresistible  power  of  democracy  which 
had  been  slowly  struggling  under  the  surface  for  cen- 
turies, burst  through  the  crust,  and  found  outward  and 
organic  expression  in  a  new  world,  a  new  national  type 
and  a  new  life. 

So  it  is  with  the  State  of  Illinois.  Say,  if  you  will, 
that  it  was  born  back  in  1787,  when  it  was  an  unim- 
portant part  of  the  great  Northwest  Territory.  Say, 
if  you  will,  that  it  was  born  in  1809,  when  it  was  set 
apart  as  a  separate  territory.  Say  that  it  was  born  in 
1818,  when  it  became  an  organized  state.  It  became 
a  state,  in  reality,  no  sooner  and  no  later  than  the  arrival 
of  the  corporate  political  conscience.  That  is  what 
makes  a  state. 

When  men  become  as  conscious  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  citizens,  as  they  are  conscious  of  being  individuals; 
when  they  are  as  conscious  of  the  state  as  they  are 

17 


of  themselves,  when  they  recognize  the  common  good 
and  the  common  need;  when  human  wills  and  intelli- 
gences and  resources  are  regarded  as  public  forces  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  public  good  in  which  each 
one  shares;  when  the  community  spirit  and  civic  ideals 
and  genuine  patriotism  arrive;  when  to  the  individual 
consciousness  and  the  family  consciousness  there  is 
added  the  state  consciousness, — that  instinct  which  is 
willingness  to  struggle  for  the  common  weal,  suffer  in 
the  common  woe  and  rejoice  in  the  common  prosperty, 
—then  you  have  a  state;  then  history  is  being  written. 
(Applause.) 

Illinois  inherited  greatness.  It  added  to  its  in- 
heritance and  acquired  new  greatness.  It  was  back  in 
1787  that  the  foundations  of  her  greatness  were  laid. 
The  Ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  of  which  Illinois  was  a  part,  contained  those 
great  principles  around  which  democracy  revolves. 
They  were  religious  liberty,  freedom  of  the  conscience, 
the  right  of  trial  by  one's  peers,  the  protection  of 
private  property,  the  inculcation  of  education,  and 
morality  and  the  inhibition  of  slavery. 

On  this  Centennial,  it  is  well  worth  our  while  to  go 
back  to  the  rock  from  whence  we  are  hewn  and  read 
some  of  those  principles  around  which  the  history  of 
Illinois  has  been  growing  for  a  hundred  years. 

"No  person  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable  and 
orderly  manner  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of 
his  mode  of  worship  or  his  religious  sentiments."  So 
read  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 

"All  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to 
worship  Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  own  consciences."  So  read  the  Constitution  of 
Illinois,  as  it  was  adopted,  in  1818. 

Those  enactments  may  sound  commonplace  to  you, 

18 


and  to  me ;  but,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  when  one  recalls 
the  story  of  New  England  and  Old  England,  and 
France  and  Spain,  and  Germany  and  other  countries; 
when  one's  mind  goes  back  to  "Blue  Laws,"  and 
religious  prohibitions  in  America,  and  to  Test  Acts 
and  Inquisitions  and  persecutions,  in  Europe —  one 
then  gets  a  fresh  realization  of  the  progress  that  was 
registered  in  that  somewhat  crude  Kaskaskia  assembly, 
when  religious  liberty  was  enacted  and  proclaimed  in 
the  name  of  the  people  of  Illinois.  (Applause.) 

Again,  "Religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being 
necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of 
mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  for- 
ever be  encouraged."  So  read  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 
And  in  1825,  after  a  considerable  contest,  a  public 
school  system  was  established  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 
The  younger  men  and  women  who  are  here  tonight  per- 
haps take  an  educational  system  as  a  matter  of  course; 
but,  if  you  will  recall  the  fact  that  in  this  Twentieth 
Century,  in  several  of  the  so-called  civilized  nations  of 
the  world,  the  majority  of  the  people  can  neither  read 
nor  write;  if  you  will  recall  the  many  evils  and  in- 
justices and  social  wrongs  that  follow  in  the  train  of 
ignorance  and  illiteracy, — you  will  appreciate  the 
magnitude  of  the  contributions  which  Illinois  made  to 
human  progress,  where,  in  1825,  it  inaugurated  a 
public  school  system.  (Applause.) 

Again,  "There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involun- 
tary servitude  in  said  territory."  So  read  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787.  "Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
tude shall  hereafter  be  introduced  into  this  State,"  read 
the  Illinois  Constitution  of  1818. 

That  clause  in  the  Constitution  did  not  grow  up 
there.  It  was  not  brought  about  by  spontaneous  genera- 
tion. It  was  not  readily  accomplished  nor  easily 

19 


sustained.  For  six  years  the  State  was  in  turmoil  and 
agitation  while  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  repeal 
this  law.  Controversies  were  long  and  bitter.  Human 
passions  broke  loose.  But  at  length  the  determination 
to  legalize  slavery  in  Illinois  was  defeated  and  the 
battle  for  human  freedom  was  won  for  all  time. 

Once  more,  the  young  men  and  women  who  are  here 
tonight  take  existing  conditions  of  freedom  as  a  matter 
of  course.  But  let  your  minds  go  back  into  an  older 
world.  Let  your  minds  go  back  to  Egypt,  where  men 
sweated  and  toiled  in  bonds  and  fetters;  to  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome,  when  moralists  and  philosophers 
calmly  catalogued  men  with  oxen;  to  Prussia  in  the 
Fourteenth  Century,  where  men  were  given  the  choice 
of  slavery,  or  conformity  to  the  powers  that  be;  to  Eng- 
land, whose  outlying  possessions  were  so  recently 
redeemed  from  slavery  at  such  a  great  cost.  Let  your 
minds  go  back  but  a  short  time  in  American  history, 
when  white  men  shed  their  blood  to  make  black  men 
free.  Let  your  minds,  I  say,  sweep  the  horizon  of  the 
struggles  of  the  human  family  onward  and  upward 
through  the  centuries  towards  freedom  and  brother- 
hood ;  and  that  one  sentence  in  the  Kaskasia  State  Con- 
stitution will  shine  as  an  inextinguishable  light  illumi- 
nating the  path  of  progress: 

"Neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  shall  here- 
after be  introduced  into  the  State."  (Applause.) 

You  will  not,  of  course,  get  the  impression  that  Illi- 
nois was  the  only  state  in  the  Union  that  had  these 
lofty  passions  or  these  spiritual  experiences.  She  was 
one  of  many  states,  one  of  a  brotherhood.  Elsewhere 
the  same  battles  were  being  fought.  Elsewhere  they 
were  being  won.  But  the  point  to  be  noted  is  that  they 
were  fought  and  they  were  won  here  in  Illinois. 

20 


"Not  without  thy  wondrous  story  can  be  writ  the 
Nation's  glory,  Illinois." 

But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  great  principles  are  merely 
academic  things,  unless  they  are  embodied  in  living 
persons.  It  was  Carlyle  who  said  that  the  history  of 
the  world  is  simply  the  story  of  what  good  men  and 
women  do  in  the  world.  The  greatest  facts  in  the  world 
are  great  personalities.  Illinois  has  not  been  wanting 
in  personalities  and  in  leaders  and  teachers  of  men. 
On  the  occasion  of  this  Centennial,  it  seems  to  me, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  there  are  two  professions, 
in  particular,  to  whom  we  should  pay  our  tribute  of 
affection,  to  whom  our  debt  of  gratitude  should  be 
acknowledged,  two  professions  which  have  rendered 
a  maximum  service  for  a  minimum  reward.  They  are 
the  preachers  and  the  teachers.  (Applause.) 

In  the  category  of  preachers  we  include  all  those 
representatives  and  spokesmen  of  religion,  by  whatso- 
ever ecclesiastical  or  denominational  titles  they  may 
have  been  designated.  Amongst  teachers  we  include 
all  those  representatives  and  practitioners  of  educa- 
tion, from  the  obscurest  school  mistress  to  the  most  re- 
nowned college  president.  These,  more  than  others 
have  been  the  pioneers  in  morality  and  culture,  in  high- 
mindedness  and  idealism, — without  which  no  people 
can  be  truly  great. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  conditions  under  which 
they  operated,  and  the  environment  in  which  they  lived. 
There  were  no  great  cities  in  Illinois,  in  those  days. 
The  population  was  scattered  or  gathered  in  rural 
groups.  The  people  lived  in  log  houses,  mostly  with- 
out windows.  The  furniture  was  very  scant.  The 
family  sat  around  rude  wooden  tables,  on  wooden 
benches.  Their  eating  implements  were  made  of  wood 
or  iron  and  pewter.  Their  food  was  the  never  failing 


pork  and  johnny-cake,  with  occasional  supplies  of 
venison  and  wild  game.  Their  social  life  revolved 
largely  around  the  wedding  and  the  funeral.  Those 
events  were  surrounded  then,  as  they  are  now,  to  a  great 
extent,  with  pagan  customs  and  habits.  (Laughter.) 
Apart  from  the  wedding  and  the  funeral,  there  were 
three  great  social  institutions.  They  were  the  harvest 
bee,  the  husking  bee,  and  the  horse  races. 

A  harvest  bee  without  whiskey  was  like  a  dance 
without  a  fiddle.  They  drank  it  out  of  a  bottle,  which 
was  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Any  other  method 
of  drinking  it  would  have  been  regarded  as  betokening 
the  dilettanteism  of  the  tenderfoot. 

The  husking  bee  took  the  form  of  a  contest  as  to 
which  man  could  husk  first  his  allotment  of  corn.  The 
man  that  was  so  lucky  as  to  come  across  a  red  ear  had 
the  privilege  of  kissing  all  the  girls.  Let  us  hope  for 
the  girls'  sake  that  there  were  not  too  many  red  ears. 

After  the  husking  was  over,  came  the  bountiful  sup- 
per. And  then  "they  danced  all  night,  till  broad  day- 
light, and  went  home  with  the  girls  in  the  morning." 
It  was  an  enviable  occupation,  but  it  was  a  bad  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  of  the  next  day.  The  dull  reaction 
came  on  early  in  the  morning.  There  was  the  usual 
resort  to  artificial  stimulant,  and  fresh  corks  were 
pulled  for  fresh  exhilaration.  To  make  things  worse, 
the  fever  and  ague  were  very  prevalent.  They  were 
not  more  prevalent  however  than  the  remedy;  and  the 
same  remedy  which  would  cool  the  fever  down  would 
warm  the  ague  up. 

The  horse  race  was  the  great  social  event.  Now, 
horse  racing  is  capable  of  being  a  gentleman's  sport, 
in  which  thoroughbred  men  and  thoroughbred  horses 
can  participate,  without  harm.  I  say  it  is  possible. 
(Laughter.)  But  in  Illinois  the  by-products  were 


vicious.  Gambling  was  popular,  and  the  stakes  were 
large.  Whiskey  flowed  like  water.  Fist  fights  and 
"rough  and  tumble  fights"  were  the  order  of  the  day. 

Schools  and  churches  had  not  yet  arrived,  although 
these  people  had  inherited  some  educational  advantages 
and  had  retained  a  faint  memory  of  Puritanism  in  the 
dim  background  of  their  consciences.  "Book  laming" 
was  considered  impracticable  and  unprofitable;  and, 
as  for  the  workings  of  Almighty  God,  it  was  the  climax 
of  awkwardness  and  unnaturalness. 

It  was  into  that  atmosphere  that  the  preacher  and 
the  teacher  came;  and  from  the  moment  they  came, 
morals,  manners,  ideals  began  to  rise. 

No  one  can  tell  truly  the  story  of  Illinois,  without 
putting  church  and  school  in  the  very  foreground  of 
the  narrative.    The  gentle  and  courageous  Marquette, 
the  eloquent  and  ardent  Father  Allouez;  the  indefatig- 
able and  courageous   Peter  Cartwright,   amongst  the 
Methodists;  the  Baptist  John  Mason  Peck,  who  more 
than  any  other  one  man  prevented  slavery  from  getting 
official   recognition  on  the  statute  books  of  Illinois; 
(Applause)  ;  the  indomitable  Philander  Chase,  who 
settled  in  Central  Illinois,  after  having  built  a  college 
down  in  Ohio,  where  the  students  still  sing  of  him: 
"He  climbed  the  hill,  and  said  a  prayer 
And  founded  Kenyon  College  there. 
He  built  the  College,  built  the  dam; 
He  milked  the  cows,  he  smoked  the  ham; 
He  taught  the  classes,  rang  the  bell, 
And  spanked  the  naughty  freshmen  well." 
These  men,   ladies  and  gentlemen,   these  men   and 
others  like  them,  in  all  the  churches;  these  Apostolic 
missionaries,    these    itinerant   preachers,    these   gospel 
circuit  writers,   these  men  of  plain  living  and   high 
thinking,  these  are  the  men  that  laid  the  foundation 

23 


of  all  that  is  best  in  the  civilization  of  Illinois.  They 
exalted  God  in  a  materialistic  age.  They  held  aloft 
the  banner  of  the  world's  Redeemer,  in  log  houses  and 
in  camp  meetings.  They  taught  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, and  the  moral  law  to  a  people  who  in  a  new 
land  were  resisting  and  resenting  the  restraint  of 
religion  and  morality.  They  preached  temperance, 
righteousness  and  the  judgments  of  God.  They  gave 
men  a  new  grip  on  the  dignity  of  life,  and  the  glory 
of  man's  destiny.  They  led  men  to  the  Highest  through 
the  Highest  by  the  Highest,  as  they  taught  people  how 
to  be  good  citizens  of  this  world  and  at  the  same  time 
citizens  of  another  world,  whose  builder  and  whose 
maker  is  God. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  will  you  permit  me,  as  a 
representative  of  religion,  on  this  occasion,  to  pay  my 
tribute  of  praise  and  gratitude  to  those  pioneers  of 
religion  and  morality,  at  whose  feet  I  am  unworthy  to 
sit.  (Applause.) 

And  what  should  be  said  about  the  school  teachers? 
Bear  in  mind  we  are  thinking  about  the  makers  of 
history  in  Illinois.  What  should  be  said  about  the 
school  teachers  in  this  connection?  There  is  no  so- 
called  secular  profession  which  has  exerted  such  a  far 
reaching  influence  in  the  direction  of  high  mindedness, 
good  morals,  good  manners,  good  taste,  and  good  citi- 
zenship, as  the  profession  of  the  school  teacher. 

Let  us  pay  our  tribute  of  praise  and  gratitude  to  that 
long  line  of  skilful  and  conscientious  teachers  who  have 
guided  and  informed  and  inspired  the  minds  of  the 
boys  and  girls  of  Illinois.  Hats  off  to  John  Seeley,  the 
first  school  master  of  Illinois,  as  in  our  minds'  eye  we 
picture  him  sitting  on  a  wooden  bench,  in  his  log  school 
house,  with  its  slab  floor,  with  a  little  group  of  children 
in  their  homespun,  sitting  before  him  on  wooden 

24 


benches  and  learning  the  three  R's  and  taking  as  his 
compensation  a  few  deer  skins,  some  fence  rails,  and 
some  beeswax.  Hats  off  to  Stephen  Forbes,  the  first 
school  teacher  in  Chicago,  as  he  taught  in  a  little  log 
school  house  not  very  far  from  the  corner  of  Michigan 
avenue  and  Randolph  street  Hats  off  to  Eliza 
Chappell,  who  had  a  school  of  twenty  boys  and  girls 
over  on  South  Water  Street.  To  these,  and  all  their 
clan,  we  offer,  at  the  end  of  a  hundred  years,  our  grati- 
tude and  our  praise,  (applause)  from  Stephen  Forbes 
and  Eliza  Chappell,  all  the  way  down  to  William 
Rainey  Harper  and  Ella  Flagg  Young.  (Applause.) 

To  select  two  professions  for  honorable  mention  is 
not  to  minimize  the  contributions  that  have  been  made 
to  the  tone  and  character  of  Illinois  by  representatives 
of  other  professions, — by  lawyers,  who  have  brought 
fame  and  distinction  within  our  borders,  such  as,  to 
mention  only  one,  our  Melville  Fuller,  whom  we  gave 
as  Chief  Justice  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (applause)  ;  by  doctors,  who  have  not  only 
adorned  their  profession,  but  enriched  human  life,  such 
as  (to  mention  but  one)  Dr.  Henry  B.  Favill,  who  was 
recently  taken  from  us;  by  railroad  builders,  who  fur- 
nished arteries  to  the  body  politic,  such  as  Timothy 
Blackstone  (applause)  ;  by  our  song  writers  who 
inspired  more  generations  than  one,  such  as  George 
Root,  the  author  of  the  Battle  Cry  of  Freedom,  and 
Henry  Clay  Work,  the  author  of  Marching  Through 
Georgia;  by  business  men,  who  enriched  our  cultural 
life  by  their  generosity  to  the  arts;  such  men  for 
example  as  Bryan  Lathrop. 

Time  does  not  permit  one  to  record  the  names  and 
the  deeds  that  decorate  the  pages  of  a  hundred  years  of 
history.  They  are  not  forgotten.  In  the  words  of  the 

25 


Son  of  Sirach  we  say — "Let  us  praise  famous  men,  and 
our  fathers  that  begat  us." 

One  ought  not  to  content  oneself  by  mentioning 
simply  individuals  professions  or  vocations.  The 
people  of  Illinois,  in  their  corporate  capacity,  have 
made  their  own  permanent  contribution,  to  a  higher 
civilization.  All  up  and  down  this  State  there  are  the 
benevolences,  the  charities,  and  the  philanthropies — the 
homes,  the  hospitals,  and  the  shelters,  which  stand  as  an 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  their  devotion  to  humanity 
and  to  justice. 

Illinois  gave  more  than  its  quota  of  men  to  the 
Mexican  War,  and  did  it  voluntarily.  Illinois  offered 
more  than  its  quota  for  the  Spanish  War.  Illinois 
gave  more  men  to  the  War  of  the  Union,  relative  to  its 
population,  than  any  state  in  the  Union  except  Kansas. 
(Applause.)  Illinoisans  were  always  to  be  found 
where  the  fighting  was  fiercest.  They  were  in  the  front 
ranks  in  the  heavy  attacks  and  they  were  the  last  to 
retire  or  surrender.  (Applause.)  Illinois  gave  to 
history  a  General  John  A.  Logan,  and  other  great 
generals.  (Applause.)  Illinois  gave  to  America  a  great- 
General  and  a  great  President,  all  in  one, — Ulysses  S. 
Grant.  (Applause.)  Illinois  produced  that  brilliant 
orator — Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Illinois  gave  to  America, 
and  to  the  whole  world,  a  greater  than  a  Logan  or  a 
Grant  or  a  Douglas,  a  greater  than  a  George  Wash- 
ington, the  Father  of  his  Country, — one  whose  name 
always  comes  to  one's  lips  as  the  world's  immortals  are 
being  enumerated, — Abraham  Lincoln.  (Applause.) 

The  world  has  produced  many  great  men,  great  phi- 
losophers, great  scholars,  great  poets,  great  warriors. 
Lincoln  does  not  come  in  that  category,  because  he 
resists  classification  and  cataloguing. 

The  world  has  produced  many  great  men.  Now  and 

26 


then,  with  extreme  rarity,  it  produces  something 
greater  than  a  great  man, — it  produces  a  great  nature. 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  great  nature.  He  had  the 
greatness  of  simple  goodness,  and  the  goodness  of  sim- 
ple greatness.  Illinois'  greatest  contribution  to  America 
and  to  the  world  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  (Applause.) 

And  now  we  come  to  the  year  1918.  Our  State,  in 
Union  with  other  States,  is  undergoing  a  great  crisis 
and  has  entered  into  a  great  struggle.  All  those  prin- 
ciples which  we  have  been  considering  tonight  are 
challenged.  The  principle  of  liberty,  for  which  our 
forefathers  fought,  is  being  challenged.  The  principle 
of  freedom,  for  which  many  of  our  forefathers  died, 
is  being  imperiled,  as  a  ruthless  power  deports  civilian 
populations  into  slavery, — indicative  of  what  might 
happen  to  us  if  it  were  to  win  this  War. 

Cur  ideals  of  humanity  are  being  outraged  as  mil- 
lions of  innocent  people,  Armenians  and  others,  have 
been  butchered,  murdered,  slaughtered.  Our  ideals  of 
gallantry  and  chivalry  toward  women,  ideals  which 
the  pioneer  population  had  back  there  in  the  days  of 
the  husking  bee  and  the  country  dance,  when  domestic 
morality  was  of  a  high  standard, — I  say  our  ideals  of 
gallantry  and  chivalry  toward  women  are  being  out- 
raged, as  Belgium  and  French  women  are  being  rav- 
ished to  death  today.  Our  ideals  of  civilization,  our 
ideals  touching  the  exaltation  of  the  individual  con- 
science and  its  freedom  from  state  stultification,  our 
ideals  of  democracy  and  self-government  for  which 
Lincoln  stood, — every  one  of  them  is  challenged. 

What  is  Illinois'  answer  to  be  to  the  high  call  of 
duty?  How  many  soldiers  will  Illinois  give  to  our 
Country?  How  many  sailors  and  aviators  and  engi- 
neers? How  many  patriots  in  different  fields  of  service? 
How  many  millions  of  dollars  is  Illinois  going  to  give 

27 


for  welfare  work  and  for  works  of  mercy?  How  many 
Liberty  Bonds  is  Illinois  going  to  take?  How  much 
moral  bulk  and  spiritual  energy  and  ability  to  suffer 
hardship  is  Illinois  going  to  contribute  to  the  morale 
of  the  men  at  the  front,  and  to  the  morale  of  the  men 
and  women  at  home? 

These  questions  cannot  be  answered  now;  but,  if 
Illinois  is  true  to  her  traditions,  I  doubt  not  that  when 
the  time  comes  to  sum  up  the  records,  it  will  be  found 
that  Illinois  now,  as  in  the  past,  has  done  more  than 
her  share. 

May  I  conclude  by  paying  a  personal  tribute  to  a 
man  who  is  still  living?  Heretofore  we  have  been 
praising  the  dead.  May  I  pay  my  tribute  and  yours  to 
a  man  who  stands  at  the  center  of  things  in  this  State, — 
a  man  who  in  1918  is  the  successor  of  Shadrach  Bond 
in  1818;  my  I  pay  my  tribute  and  yours  to  the  Gover- 
nor of  Illinois,  who  has  honored  us  by  his  presence 
here  tonight?  (Applause.) 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  when  about  a  year  ago,  this 
country  was  making  the  great  and  solemn  decision,  and 
when  there  were  representative  men  in  high  places  who 
were  speaking  and  acting  somewhat  uncertainly  and 
not  rising  to  the  height  of  the  loyal  citizenship  of  Illi- 
nois; when  there  were  men  in  exalted  office  who  were 
not  making  their  position  quite  clear  at  a  time  when 
every  man  ought  to  stand  up  and  be  counted ;  in  days 
such  as  these  through  which  we  have  been  passing, 
when  we  cannot  be  half  loyal  and  half  disloyal,  it  has 
been  the  pride  and  joy  of  the  loyal  citizenship  of  Illi- 
nois to  have  at  the  center  of  affairs  a  man  who  has 
looked  face  forward,  without  keeping  his  ear  to  the 
ground,  without  thinking  what  it  was  going  to  cost  in 
direction  of  true  blue  Americanism,  undiluted  patriot- 
ism, and  a  just  victory.  (Applause.) 

28 


Let  us  today  register  a  new  oath  of  allegiance.   Let 
us  march  with  the  loyal  Governor  of  this  State,  keep- 
ing step  to  but  one  tune.  And  let  that  tune  be  :— 
"Then  conquer  we  must,  for  our  cause  it  is  just, 
And  this  be  our  motto,  'In  God  we  will  trust' ; 
For  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  forever  shall  wave, 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 
(Applause.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Ladies  and  gentlemen:  We 
shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you  all  in  the  foyer,  after  the 
exercises.  The  Centennial  Exhibition  is  there  and  is 
well  worth  seeing.  The  hour  is  not  too  late,  perhaps, 
for  you  to  see  it  tonight.  It  will  remain  there  until 
Sunday  night.  The  meeting  is  adjourned. 


The  Old  Songs  The  Early  Records 

The  Old  Flags  The  Early  Families 

Led  by  the  members  of  the  Civic  Music  Association, 
speakers  and  auditors  joined  in  singing  patriotic  airs 
at  intervals  in  the  program  and  Miss  Mina  Hager, 
Soprano,  in  costume  of  the  period,  sang  ballads  popular 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War:  Rosalie  the  Prairie 
Flower,  Hazel  Dell,  Just  Before  the  Battle  Mother, 
The  Vacant  Chair,  and  others.  A  program  of  early 
dance  music  was  given  by  members  of  Hand's 
Orchestra  in  the  foyer. 

The  decorations  of  the  stage  and  the  boxes  were  the 
Historic  Flags  that  have  waved  over  Illinois:  The 
Castles  and  Lions  of  Spain,  the  Lilies  of  France,  The 
Crosses  of  Britain,  The  Stars  and  Stripes,  The  Battle 
Flags  of  Illinois  and  The  Illinois  Centennial  Flag. 

The  Reception  in  the  Foyer  that  closed  the  evening 
brought  many  pleasant  reunions  of  old  friends,  and  the 
strains  of  the  old  war  time  music  seemed  to  link  the 
present  with  the  past  as  tidings  were  exchanged  of  one 
and  another  son  serving  his  country  as  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  done  before  him. 

Not  without  thy  wondrous  story 
Can  be  writ  the  Nation  s  glory 
Illinois. 


3° 


977.3C43CE 


C001 


j    ffiTENTENN*LOF.LLIH0.8STATEHOOD,CO 


